Join the next Reclaim the Fields European Assembly in Poland in January 2016!
When: Thursday 21st January – Sunday 24th January 2016
Where: Warsaw, Poland. Exact location will be announced closer to the date. Please book travel to Warsaw.
Why:
The goals of the assembly are:
- To meet and exchange information amongst the stars and local groups since last year
- To exchange and debate on a theme that matters to us across Europe
- To see where we are at with our European Reclaim the Fields constellation: what was decided last year, for what results, what we need to do to continue, and what future plans do we have.
- To have fun and build relationships between us!
The Assemblies generally bring together people already active in the RTF constellation (or those that are aware/informed on the dynamics and latest discussions of the network.) But everybody is welcome!
Why in Poland?
RTF Poland was created after the last European Assembly that took place in Nottingham (embed link – www.reclaimthefields.org.uk/2015/01/26/…. They have a lot of energy, have been making great actions and want to make stronger links with us. They are also interested in sharing experiences about way of actions, to spread some practices arount them. We also want to welcome them into the constellation! Read more about them below.
Get Involved
– to prepare the content :
- Can you help with content preparation for the Assembly? ( prepare timetable, prepare facilitation, …)
- Do you have suggestions for the debate?
- Are you part of a working group? What are the needs of the working group at the gathering?
- Do you have ideas for the next camp or assembly? Please prepare them & email them even as a basic idea.
if you have answer to one of this question, please send a mail to contactrtf@riseup.net
– to help the logistic
Help fundraise or financially contribute to the gathering! We would like to be abble to support people with travel costs that could otherwise not participate… every contribution is welcome !
Registration Form: http://reclaimthefields.noflag.org.uk/?page_id=1135
Contact:
If you have any questions concerning logistics or content of the meeting please contact contactrtf@riseup.net
Language at the meeting/Interpretation
The meeting will be supportet by bla interpretation equipment collective. That means that we will have the facilities to make everyone listen and speak in the languages they feel most comfortable in. that way we want to help break down hierarchies due to language barriers. interpretors come out of the crowd – maybe also you would like to contrubute to the interpretation at the meeting!
in the registration form you’ll find space/a section to note you’re needs and wants and contrubution you might want to offer to the assembly.
About the hosts – ROD
ROD is an untranslatable play on words. Originally the shortcut R.O.D. menas Rodzinne Ogrody Działkowe (Family Allotment Gardens) but we translate it as Radykalne Ogrody Działkowe (Radical Allotment Gardens).
The main goals of ROD collective: The basic of existence our group is autonomous, voluntary and self-organized initiative, free from any kind of hierarchy and discrimination. The members of collective try to be involved in reclaim the fields movement by occupying and ecological using the area of the allotment gardens – to secure it from devastation by the developers.
Warsaw have particular conditions under land grabing context. The main tool using by big business to legally land grab is a process called “re-privatization”. It mean that Warsow City Council tries to “give back” all buildings and land to the descendants of pre-war owners. That means 80% of Warsow. Exactly the same amount of city was destroy after war, and rebuild by tenants and people from whole of Poland with public money. Now so called “developer companies” look up old descendants (or finding a false ones) buying for a ridiculous price rights to the buildings or lands from them and becoming new owners. One of the effects of this is now there is 600.000 empty business spaces in places when few years ago were townhouses. Further tens of thousands old flats are empty. At the same time in the outskirts of the city closed settlements are growing, built by the same companies.
Land which is occupied by ROD collective was grabbed under this re-privatization process. But to say that we are there because particular situation of this land would be too much. We just chose this place because it was good place to start spread info about Land grabbing and show sustainable living in practice, as well as occupy resistance tactics. Anyway, it was clear for us that sooner or later something would happen. The area was just too nice to be not interesting to some developers. So it is also true that even though we were not looking a conflict we were open to the possibility of finding it.
ROD is kind of laboratory where in a radical and friendly atmosphere we got knowledge and skills about planting vegatables and herbs, derive energy from renewable sources, food processing, constructing spaces, tools, things for everyday using and organizing a social life for the community and the neighborhood with using the different tactics of resistance and struggle against capitalism. We strive for self-sufficiency and sovereignty, and we work in accordance with the principle of do it yourself.
For more information about Reclaim the Fields Poland visit: reclaimthefieldspl.noblogs.org
Background to the Assemblies
We still understand RtF as an organizational constellation of stars which is in constant movement and process. Stars are persons, collectives or projects who/which share the RtFs values and relate themselves and their work to the RtF goals. The stars are organized and meet in local networks which are autonomous and have their own objectives. The local networks are the base of the RtF constellation since it is essential for RtF to work from the bottom up. Apart from the local networks, there are working groups and thematic groups.
On the European level there are three different kinds of meetings:
- Functional meetings once a year during winter time. The objective is to get feedback from the working groups, plan the camp, get news from the local networks and have an exchange about what is happening in the different local contexts.
- Thematic meetings take place whenever people/local networks/working groups organize one. The idea is to work on specific topics. This can be for example a discussion of concepts, an exchange on agricultural techniques and knowledge or the support of a local struggle.
- European camps take place in summer and are bigger and take longer than the other meetings. The objective is to make RtF grow by ‘going to new places’, supporting local struggles and sharing skills, knowledge and ideas. The last camp took place in the UK against the mega prison (embed link – www.reclaimthefields.org.uk/2015/09/06/…
Read the last bulletin here for more info about we did at the last Assembly in Nottingham: reclaimthefields.noflag.org.uk/wp-conte…
This post is also available in: Français (French) Deutsch (German)
